Distance dictates 2014 grain haulage costs

Distance dictates 2014 grain haulage costs

Results from AHDB/HGCA’s UK Grain Haulage Survey 2014 show a 1.2 per cent decline in average journey costs, compared with last year’s survey.

The average journey in 2014 cost £8.43/t, compared with £8.53/t in 2013. However, when a journey exceeded 80 miles the cost of transport increased year on year. The cost of a journey of 90 miles or more was the highest since at least 2004.

The survey of 227 journeys across the UK revealed varying changes in costs, depending on distance and region.

In 2014, a journey of 10 miles was £0.59/t lower (-12.0%) than in 2013, whereas a journey of 150 miles was £0.59/t higher (+4.4%).

The average retail diesel price from July 2013 until end-April 2014 was 138.52 pence per litre, two per cent lower than during the same time period in 2012/13. The strengthening of the pound sterling against the US dollar is a key factor behind the decline in price.

Results from AHDB/HGCA’s UK Grain Haulage Survey 2014 show a 1.2 per cent decline in average journey costs, compared with last year’s survey.

Lorry on country road_275_243The average journey in 2014 cost £8.43/t, compared with £8.53/t in 2013. However, when a journey exceeded 80 miles the cost of transport increased year on year. The cost of a journey of 90 miles or more was the highest since at least 2004.

The survey of 227 journeys across the UK revealed varying changes in costs, depending on distance and region.

In 2014, a journey of 10 miles was £0.59/t lower (-12.0%) than in 2013, whereas a journey of 150 miles was £0.59/t higher (+4.4%).

Click to take a look at the full survey results

The average retail diesel price from July 2013 until end-April 2014 was 138.52 pence per litre, two per cent lower than during the same time period in 2012/13. The strengthening of the pound sterling against the US dollar is a key factor behind the decline in price.

AHDB/HGCA Senior Analyst, Amandeep Kaur Purewal, said: “From this survey we can see that fuel costs are not the only factor affecting grain haulage rates. Higher costs for longer distances may be due to empty, or lower than capacity, back-loads. Lower production in 2013/14 may have meant that the wheat crop travelled over longer distances in the UK. The north of the country has experienced more of a deficit than usual, so more grain has had to travel from the south-east.

“Looking ahead to 2014/15, plantings indicate a return to a “normal” cropping mix in the UK, so the higher expected volume of wheat could provide higher demand for haulage, with potential implications for costs. This is against the backdrop of an anecdotal decline in haulage capacity during the low production years of 2012 and 2013.”

The data for the 44th AHDB/HGCA UK Grain Haulage Survey was collected online from grain hauliers over four weeks, from 27 March to 25 April 2014.